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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139816">Sudden Onset Soulmates</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romiress/pseuds/Romiress'>Romiress</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Justice League - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Everyone gets a ship but they're only mentioned briefly, Multi, Non-traditional Soulmate Depictions, Some Humor, Soulmate-Identifying Marks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:47:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,175</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139816</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romiress/pseuds/Romiress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A god, helped by the League, offers those who helped a gift: the name of the person who will make them happiest.</p><p>Not everyone is happy about that.</p><p>--</p><p>Some introspection/exploration of the reactions to soulmates in a society where they <i>aren't</i> standard.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>113</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sudden Onset Soulmates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As a matter of principle, Bruce didn't like gods. He made special exceptions for demigods, who tended to be less mired in all the <em>godliness</em> he was used to, but gods themselves?</p><p>A mess.</p><p>Gods, after all, were mired in <em>godliness.</em> They were distant from humans, and tended to not really understand them in any meaningful way. People like Diana could bridge the gap, but only so much.</p><p>There was a reason, after all, that so many stories told of gods doing terrible things: not because they were malicious, but instead because they truly did not understand the misery they were spreading.</p><p>Bruce wasn't expecting the god in front of them to <em>want</em> to hurt them—he actually fully expected it to be thankful—but it was so alien and inhuman that he <em>was</em> fully expecting for their <em>thanks</em> to be less than helpful.</p><p>He was, of course, right.</p><p>Disappointingly so.</p><p>"As thanks," the god said to them, their body so indistinct and bright that Bruce couldn't bare to actually look at it, "a gift. I have been told that humans struggle to make bonds, that so much of humanities struggle is in finding the correct ones to make them with. I will make this easier for you. So, my gift: the name of those who will make you most happy."</p><p>Bruce couldn't see their face at all, but that didn't stop him from getting the impression that the god was smiling at them as it faded out of reality.</p><p>"...Oh great," Guy said the moment they were gone. "Why does that feel like a backhanded gift?"</p><p>A moment later, a brief, searing pain lanced through Bruce's arm, bad enough to make him gasp, but it was so temporary that the pain was gone almost as soon as he'd registered it.</p><p>Gone, like it had never been at all.</p><p>
  <em>Fantastic.</em>
</p><p>"That is because it is," J'onn said, direct as ever. "If the name is someone you already have feelings for, then you can be certain you have made the right choice. But it is also just as likely that the name is of someone you previously had no interest in... or even someone you have not yet met."</p><p>J'onn offers his bare arm only a brief glance, and then holds it up.</p><p>"They offered to show us only who would make us the most happy, but that does not mean that being with them is possible."</p><p>In small red letters is J'onn's name: <b>My'ria'h.</b></p><p>His wife.</p><p>Who's dead.</p><p>Bruce grunts, unimpressed. He should have known to expect that sort of thing, really.</p><p>"Do you think it will fade?" Clark asks, staring at his arm with obvious distress. "There's nothing good that comes from... from any of this. I'm happy with Lois. If I check, and it's her name, then I've gained nothing but if I check and it's <em>not </em>her name..."</p><p>Then he'd have to live with that truth. With the knowledge there was someone else.</p><p>Kendra peels off her gauntlets, lifting the material to check her own.</p><p>"Khufu, apparently. The only question I had was if that would show up, or Carter."</p><p>Diana looks hesitant. Like Kendra, there's bracers over the name on her arm, but she looks hesitant about pulling it off and checking. Afraid of what she might find, probably.</p><p>Bruce relates.</p><p>He really, really does.</p><p>And the moment the god announced their gift—curse, really—he'd made the decision that if he was going to look at all (and he couldn't imagine he'd manage to <em>not</em> look at some point or another), he'd be doing it in private.</p><p>The risk was too great otherwise. J'onn's one true love was dead and gone, and even if another name had appeared on his arm, it wasn't as if she was around to be upset by it. If Clark saw a name other than Lois's, it would spell trouble, but Bruce also didn't think Clark was the sort to go off chasing some half-forgotten god's omen. He'd stay with Lois, even if it would bother him to know the truth. Kendra, cursed to reincarnate with her lover across countless lives, had the most obvious answer of all. Diana was likely to see Steve's name on her arm, and even if she didn't... well, he doubted there'd be trouble. Diana believed strongly in gods, and she'd follow whatever name was on her arm. And Guy...</p><p>Well, actually, Bruce had no idea what name would be on Guy's arm. He'd been involved with a few people, but never seriously, and Guy hardly seemed like the <em>settling down</em> type. Most of the others were looking at their arms with apprehension, but Guy seemed fairly nonchalant about the whole thing, adjusting the cut of his suit with his ring to expose his arms.</p><p>"Huh," he said, reading the name. "Didn't see that one coming."</p><p>And then he simply re-covered his arm like it was no big deal, even though every eye in the clearing had turned towards him, expecting an announcement.</p><p>Bruce wasn't going to ask. He'd die before he asked <em>Guy Gardner</em> who his fated love was.</p><p>Clark was apparently not as reserved as Bruce on the subject. Maybe he was trying to gauge how hard he'd have to avoid the name on his own.</p><p>"And? Was it... a good name?"</p><p>"Not what I expected, but I figure it could work out. I'll have to talk with them at some point, and see if they want to do this thing."</p><p>"What about you, Bruce?"</p><p>Bruce hardly even registered that Clark had spoken to him. It took a solid second before him to realize, his head snapping up to stare at Clark.</p><p>At Clark, who had just asked about the name on his arm.</p><p>Maybe if he just <em>removed</em> his arm, it would go away...</p><p>"Bruce?"</p><p>Bruce couldn't even admonish him about using their real names. It wasn't as if they were likely to be overheard, so far from civilization. No, he just desperately wanted to say <em>anything</em> but what was on his mind.</p><p>"You should leave him be," Diana says. "I'm sure he has reasons for being less than enthused by this."</p><p>She would know.</p><p>In fact, Bruce suspects they <em>all</em> know. Bruce has been involved with enough villains that he feels like he might as well be wearing a neon sign on his back.</p><p>
  <em>The name is probably someone who should be in jail.</em>
</p><p>The odds that the name is someone innocuous that he's dated as Bruce Wayne seems slim. The odds that it's someone like Selina or Talia, on the other hand, seems high.</p><p>"It won't change anything," Bruce says, his voice strained. "Regardless of whose name it is... everything will continue as usual."</p><p>"I doubt that," Guy says, folding his arms across his chest. "Once you've seen it, you can't go back, and you can't <em>not</em> see it. That's the trick: the god gave you a gift, and they won't let you ignore it."</p><p>Clark seems to go pale at Guy's words, and after a moment he turns away. Even just watching his back, it's clear he's rolling up his sleeve, and a moment later he lets out a loud sigh of relief, turning back around to show the name.</p><p>
  <b>Lois Lane.</b>
</p><p>"That's going to be trouble," Bruce points out. "If it doesn't fade, you'll have to be sure to keep it covered. If you don't, it all but guarantees your identity will be compromised."</p><p>"It fades," J'onn says simply, holding up his already blank arm. "Most likely it fades shortly after you look at it, as Clark's name would already be gone, otherwise."</p><p>That makes things simpler. It means all Bruce has to do is look, keep his mouth shut, and no one ever has to know. Guy hasn't shared, nor has Diana, so he won't stick out too much if he keeps it to himself.</p><p>"What about you, Guy?" Clark asks, genuinely curious. He seems <em>far</em> more interested in the whole thing now that he knows his own personal worst case scenario is out of the way. Really, he's acting like the whole thing is a <em>bonding</em> moment.</p><p>Bruce rarely wants to bond, and he sure as hell doesn't want to bond over <em>this. </em>He's desperately hoping Guy is going to say he doesn't want to share, which will give Bruce a much needed out.</p><p>"Oh, me?" Guy says, so casually that Bruce <em>knows</em> he's going to just say it. "Arkillo."</p><p>"Who?" Kendra asks, glancing around to see who recognizes the name. Bruce does, but keeps his face impassive.</p><p>Maybe whoever he gets won't be so bad, but Arkillo's name being invoked feels like a noose being tightened around his neck. If Guy is willing to admit to his, that means Diana is the last one, aside from him, who hasn't said.</p><p>If she answers, he's doomed.</p><p>He hopes she doesn't.</p><p>"Yellow Lantern," Guy explains. "We've got a standing meet up at a bar after that whole bit where the Greens and Yellows teamed up. He's a nice enough guy, just not the first person to hop to mind for me."</p><p>Bruce swears that he can see it on the horizon. Someone's going to ask Diana. Diana will answer. Then everyone will turn to him.</p><p>He knows he has the option of just <em>not</em> saying, but that doesn't feel like a real option to him. He's already strained relations with the Justice League in the past with his secrecy, and it took a great deal of effort to repair them. He doesn't want to ruin them again, especially when it's something that <em>should</em> be so mundane.</p><p>So he makes himself reconsider it. Makes himself really <em>think</em> about it.</p><p>Would it be so bad? If it's Selina, he doubts anyone would bat an eye. If it's Talia, he'd probably get some stern looks and maybe a lecture.</p><p>But at the same time, it's also a get out of jail free card: no one could judge him for pursuing whoever <em>is</em> on his arm, because it's <em>fate.</em> Ordained by a god.</p><p>Maybe it's a blessing in disguise.</p><p>"I assume we will not be sharing this information with those who are not present," Diana says, before removing her bracer, checking her arm, and showing it to the others. "Since everyone else has volunteered there's, I see no reason to keep this a secret."</p><p>
  <b>Kaisa.</b>
</p><p>It's not a name that Bruce is familiar with. In fact, no one in the group seems to recognize the name, and there's a lot of confused glancing around as everyone else comes to the same conclusion.</p><p>"Someone from Themyscira," Diana explains as everyone else works up the nerve to ask. "I gave up a relationship with them when I chose to come here and start a life outside the island."</p><p>"Maybe you should see if they're willing to start over," Clark offers, but Diana shakes her head.</p><p>"They made their desires clear. Someone who makes you the most happy isn't necessarily the best person for you. In my case, I could live a happy, blissful life with them... but I would not be here, with all of you, if I did so."</p><p>Oh. Bruce understands now why she was hesitant to look. Diana probably expected whose name would appear on her arm. If she thought it was Steve, she'd likely have been far more willing to check.</p><p>Sharing that—what she gave up in coming to live among them—feels like a greater step than what Bruce is about to take, and he sets aside his own hesitations.</p><p>The name on his arm doesn't matter. Whether it's Selina or Talia, those on the League—his friends—will support him either way. He reaches down, removing his gauntlet, but looks away before he can see the name.</p><p>Instead, he lets the others see first, holding up his arm and watching their reaction without a word.</p><p>He is <em>absolutely not</em> expecting Guy Gardner to burst into laughter, literally doubling over as he clutches his stomach, apparently in pain from how hard he's laughing. Kendra looks awkward. Diana is grimacing. J'onn is even more blank than usual.</p><p>Clark looks absolutely mortified, apparently on Bruce's behalf. He winces, his eyes flicking between Bruce's arm and Bruce's <em>very</em> confused face as Bruce freezes in place, trying to process, trying to <em>guess,</em> and yet not wanting to look.</p><p>"Ah, Bruce, maybe you should—"</p><p>Bruce unfreezes, his mind running a mile a minute, and he pulls his arm in, turning it around to look at the name written there.</p><p>
  <b>Slade Wilson.</b>
</p><p>The person who will make him happiest in the world is apparently <em>Deathstroke,</em> and he's just shown <em>half the Justice League.</em></p><p>Bruce has absolutely no idea how that's going to work. He has no idea how they'll get along, or if Wilson would even be interested.</p><p>But what he does know with an absolute certainty that goes right down to his bones is this:</p><p>The League is <em>never </em>going to let him live this one down.</p><p> </p>
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